Liebster Award!

hank you to Debra for the Liebster Award!

Here are the questions Debra gave us nominees:

1. What prompted you to start your blog?
I was trying to keep knitting and cats off my writing blog!

2. Have you ever published anything, and if so what?
Yup, articles, essays and book reviews for Bizim Anadolu (not counting short pieces and stories in university papers).

3. Do you belong to a writers group (if you are a writer)?
Yup, the wonderful Compuserve Books and Writers Community. I'm also part of the Montreal Yahoo knitters group, but haven't been to a meeting in ages.

4. If you could only take one book with you on a desert island, which would it be?
Just one? Only one? What about my knitting bag and patterns? It'll have to be The Lord of the Rings.

5. What is your favorite time in history and why?
I've been writing about the 15th Century a lot, but it's still too limited in some ways, to someone used to the 21st Century. So I'll go with Restoration England, for the frisson of fear and all the possibilities. Nothing to do with Charles II and Lord Rochester, of course...

6. If you could live anywhere on earth, where would it be?
On a yacht in the Mediterranean!

7. What is your favorite beverage?
All of them? Coffee, milk, ayran, juice...

8. Who is your favorite person in history and why?
Putting aside the Restoration... it's still difficult to choose. I could say Tolkien, and add a new favourite time in history - England in the 1920s!

9. What book are you currently reading?
The Count of Monte Cristo, in French...

10. What season is your favorite and why?
Autumn, definitely. I love the heat, but also love the return of sweater and stockings weather, and the lovely colours.

11. If you could go back and change anything in your life what would it be?
Nothing. Really! I'd like to travel more, but I can do that now too!

Rules: "If you receive the award, you should:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Hope that the people you've sent the award to will forward it to their five favourite bloggers and keep it going!"

I'm nominating the last five who visited me here (not counting Debra, of course; thanks for the award, Debra!):

Helen

Lauren

Madeleine

Sara

Erica

And here are my questions for you (I actually answered some of these myself last year on the writing blog!):

1. What is your most embarrassing moment?

2. If you had to play a sport as a career, which one would it be?

3. Who is your favorite music artist, and why?

4. What is your favorite movie, and why?

5. If you were tossed into a fairytale, would you be a helpless princess/prince, a kick-butt heroine/hero, or the bad guy?

6. What is the best cheese you've ever tasted?

7. If you were given a yacht, what would you name it?

8. If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?

9. Where's your favorite place to craft?

10. Who cares if the glass is half empty or half full. What's in the glass?

11. Name one of your strengths when it comes to crafting (are you fast? an original designer? etc.)?

Madame Defarge, and National Sweater Day

osted photos of a recent New York City trip on my writing blog, but here I've got three knitting-related photos to share here.

There was a Dickens exhibit on at the New York Public Library, with a display for A Tale of Two Cities that included some items of interest for Madame Defarge:

Here's Madame herself

Here're her supplies

And here's the backstory

World Wildlife Fund's National Sweater Day is on 7 February!

"On Feb 7th, lower your heat and put on your favorite sweater to take action against climate change and work towards a sustainable future. Join Canadians across the country fighting climate change by conserving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If every Canadian lowered the heat by just 2º C this winter, it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4 Megatons! So lower the heat, wear that sweater and make the world a better place for your Grandchildren!"

I'll be working on my Fair Isle sweater, and probably be wrapped in a handknit blanket as well. It's cold round here!

Photos coming soon of a belated Christmas scarf and a soon-to-be-complete mini Doctor Who Fourth Doctor scarf - whose recipient will be a surprise fellow blogger!